Science Education
SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK
OXYGEN
In Italian, the translated word for OXYGEN is OSSIGENO.
Thank you to our Foundation students for suggesting that 'oxygen' is essential for people to stay alive.
We are making a milk bottle igloo and we need your help!
Please wash, clean (with detergent) and bring 2 and 3 Litre milk bottles, with clean lids to Science!
Later in the year, to complement our science learning in Foundation, we will aim to construct a 2 and 3 litre milk bottle igloo to explore the weather. Could I kindly please ask all families to collect 2L and 3L milk bottles and bring them to the science room where they will be stored.
Please ensure all milk bottles and lids are thoroughly washed with detergent.
Foundation: Staying Alive
It has been wonderful to meet the new foundation students and begin learning all about Science with our new biological sciences unit 'Staying Alive'. Students have met our class pets, the three chickens, Nugget, Scrambled and Mint who will feature heavily in this new unit.
In science, we always begin units with the hope to engage and amaze. During the 'engage' phase of the unit, students were given the opportunity to:
Explore and brainstorm their initial ideas about science.
Discuss the care of the class pets.
Record what they think they know about the needs of a pet and a person to stay alive.
Year 1/2: Watch it grow!
The Year 1/2's explored our new science resources 'Mini Beasts Life Cycle sets' to sketch the lifecycles of a silkworm, honey bee, frog, butterfly and a peanut. Studying life cycles of plants and animals provides children with numerous learning opportunities to question and describe changes that occur as living things grow. It allows students to investigate their world and get up close to plants and animals.
Mealworm Diaries are coming home!
This week all Year 1/2 students will take home one mealworm. They will be provided with care instructions and a mealworm diary to record scientific drawings of their growth over the next month. I kindly ask you to please support your children in their science learning journey in this take-home observation task. Your child is investigating if the temperature the mealworm is kept at, has an effect on the growth of the mealworm. Your child has been given directions about where they should store their mealworm (refrigerator: girls or at room temperature: boys). The mealworms require very little care and the students have been very excited about bringing their learning home to share with you. Please see a copy of the mealworm diary attached, in the event a child misplaces it.
Please note: if your child was absent on Tuesday during science, please encourage them to visit me in the science space to collect their mealworm and diary.
Please note, in the science room, we have an abundance of mealworms (should the mealworm experince an 'unexpected shorter' life).
Year 3/4: Among the Gum Tress
During the 'explore' phase of the 'Among the Gum Trees' unit, students were given the opportunity to:
Sequence the life cycle of a European honey bee.
Create a chart showing how different animals use eucalypts trees.
Work in teams to identify the impact(s) a given animal might have on a eucalyptus tree
Please ensure that all students are enrolled in the 'Year 3/4 Science' Google classroom.
The code they will need to use to enroll in this classroom is 'qy77ssc'.
Year 5/6: Marvellous Micro-organisms
During the 'explore' phase of the 'Marvellous Micro-organisms' unit, students were given the opportunity to:
Read a factual recount of the role of Fleming and Florey in the discovery and development of penicillin.
Discuss conditions that promote yeast activity.
Read and discuss a procedural text.
Work in collaborative learning teams to investigate the best temperature to support yeast activity.
Please ensure that all students are enrolled in the 'Year 5/6 Science' Google classroom.
The code they will need to use to enroll in this classroom is 'p7sg3it'.
Contact Details
Patty Luna: pluna@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au
Please note, we will respond to emails Monday- Friday, between the hours of 8am and 5pm.